SelecTV forms JV with Altech for French VOD service

SelecTV, the company that was chosen two years ago by French media regulator the CSA to launch a video-on-demand service via the country’s digital-terrestrial platform, has teamed up with South African set-top maker Altech in a 50:50 joint venture for the service.

SelecTV must launch its service by this summer. The service is seen by the CSA as a means to revive pay TV on the digital terrestrial platform. SelecTV was itself a spin-off of digital-terrestrial pay TV provider TV Numeric, which went into receivership last October with about 35,000 subscribers.

Altech will reportedly take a 50% stake in Gizeh, a holding company that will control 100% of the capital of SelecTV. The latter plans to sell a DVR decoder for a relatively low price and a monthly subscription on top. SelecTV has deals in place with four US studios and a number of French content providers.